Sparta’s Baker Park Bike Trail opened Saturday making it the first mountain bike trail in the city limits. Greg O’Neal and David Zuber along with many volunteers cleared the path for the mile course. O’Neal said after about two years of work, it is ready to be biked by all ages. “We’ve had a lot of volunteer work,” O’Neal said. ... Read More »

The Floating Mill Recreation area at Center Hill Lake will reopen Monday for public use. The ramp, shelter, beach, and restroom facilities will be closed over the weekend. The area will not be accessible due to maintenance and restriping of parking lots. Alternative launching ramps closest to Floating Mill Recreation Area include Hurricane Bridge, Edgar Evins State Park, and Ike ... Read More »

The Wildwood Resort and Marina is doing its part this weekend to keep local waterways clean. Its fourth annual Cumberland River Compact’s Adopt-a-Stream cleanup is scheduled for Saturday. Wildwood Resort and Marina Co-Owner Natasha Deane said this year’s goal is cleaning about a mile of river front at Granville’s Veteran’s Park. “Each year, we pick-up about 100 bags of trash,” ... Read More »

The Tennessee Department of Health announced Friday that each county will be able to move through vaccine eligibility phases as they choose. The vaccine had been available statewide to people age 65 and older and those in Phase 1c. “As Tennessee continues working to protect those most at risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19 and provide vaccinations as ... Read More »

January sales tax revenue for Putnam County municipalities grew some 15.5 percent compared to January of last year. The County saw the highest increase by about 32 percent. Baxter followed with about 27 percent. Monterey had a growth of 18.1 percent, Cookeville 13.6 percent and Algood 12 percent. All five municipalities contributed to $3,728,620.34 of sales tax revenue. That is ... Read More »

Aphena Pharma Solutions is preparing for a summer grand opening for its new Chocolate Drive location. Marketing Vice President Eric Allen said employees should begin moving into the facility in April. “Our move in date is going to be sometime in the beginning of April for office staff,” Allen said. “We have already started running small production activities at the ... Read More »

Issues with Sparta’s tornado siren led the city’s Board of Alderman to approve an inspection of the system Thursday night. Fire Chief Captain Kirk Young said he started searching for companies after the Church Street siren did not go off during its monthly testing. “And, we’ve got a bid for $4,836 to come out and do a PM service,” Young ... Read More »

Byrdstown has completed its Eagle Cove water line project, but some residents have questions about clean up efforts. A public hearing to close the Community Development Block Grant project was held Thursday. Mayor Sam Gibson said about a dozen residents have cited properties that still need work. “In the past weeks, we’ve had maybe a couple dozen phone calls of ... Read More »

Rock Island State Park Officials are asking for the public’s help for two ongoing investigations. Park Manager Damon Graham said the first is a felony theft case that occurred March 11th in a parking lot on Powerhouse Road. “One of our day areas where a vehicle was broken into,” Graham said. “Several things were stolen from that vehicle. We are ... Read More »

The Highlands Residential Services could be eligible for disaster relief funding for its Magnolia Ridge development. The Tennessee Housing Development Agency has housing credits available for a special round of funding. Developer Alvin Nance said Putnam County is one of five counties that could be eligible based on 2020 storm damage. “THDA is asking for comments about the program, because ... Read More »